notesnook README

The project's README from github.com/streetwriters/notesnook. As one markdown file: README.md.

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Notesnook

An end-to-end encrypted note taking alternative to Evernote.

Website | About us | Roadmap | Downloads | Twitter | Discord

Overview

Notesnook is a free (as in speech) & open-source note-taking app focused on user privacy & ease of use. To ensure zero knowledge principles, Notesnook encrypts everything on your device using XChaCha20-Poly1305 & Argon2.

Notesnook is our proof that privacy does not (always) have to come at the cost of convenience. We aim to provide users peace of mind & 100% confidence that their notes are safe and secure. The decision to go fully open source is one of the most crucial steps towards that.

This repository contains all the code required to build & use the Notesnook web, desktop & mobile clients. If you are looking for a full feature list or screenshots, please check the website.

Developer guide

Technologies & languages

Notesnook is built using the following technologies:

  1. JavaScript/Typescript — this repo is in a hybrid state. A lot of the newer code is being written in Typescript & the old code is slowly being ported over.
  2. React — the whole front-end across all platforms is built using React.
  3. React Native — For mobile apps we are using React Native
  4. Electron — For desktop app
  5. NPM — listed here because we don't use Yarn or PNPM or XYZ across any of our projects.

Note: Each project in the monorepo contains its own architecture details which you can refer to.

Monorepo structure

Name Path Description
@notesnook/web /apps/web Web client
@notesnook/desktop /apps/desktop Desktop client
@notesnook/mobile /apps/mobile Android/iOS clients
@notesnook/web-clipper /extensions/web-clipper Web clipper
@notesnook/core /packages/core Shared core between all platforms
@notesnook/crypto /packages/crypto Cryptography library wrapper around libsodium
@notesnook/clipper /packages/clipper Web clipper core handling everything related to actual page clipping
@notesnook/editor /packages/editor Notesnook editor + all extensions
@notesnook/editor-mobile /packages/editor-mobile A very thin wrapper around @notesnook/editor for mobile clients
@notesnook/logger /packages/logger Simple & pluggable logger
@notesnook/sodium /packages/sodium Wrapper around libsodium to support Node.js & Browser
@notesnook/streamable-fs /packages/streamable-fs Streaming interface around an IndexedDB based file system
@notesnook/theme /packages/theme The core theme used in web & desktop clients

Contributing guidelines

If you are interested in contributing to Notesnook, I highly recommend checking out the contributing guidelines. You'll find all the relevant information such as style guideline, how to make a PR, how to commit etc., there.

Support & help

You can reach out to us via:

  1. Email
  2. Discord
  3. Twitter
  4. Create an issue

We take all queries, issues and bug reports that you might have. Feel free to ask.

Additional Resources

notesnook (streetwriters/notesnook)

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14.8K ·GitHub
What is this?Notesnook is a free, fully open-source, end-to-end encrypted note-taking app positioned as a privacy-focused alternative to Evernote.
Is it a single app or a monorepo of clients?It is a monorepo containing the web, desktop and mobile (Android/iOS) clients plus shared packages like core, crypto, and editor.
How do I get the dev environment running?After cloning, run the bootstrap script (npm run prepare which runs husky install && npm run bootstrap), then use project-specific build commands like npm run build:web for the web client.
Do I need Yarn or pnpm to work on this?No, the project exclusively uses NPM across all its projects instead of Yarn, pnpm, or similar tools.
Why does Notesnook require an email address if it's privacy-focused?The README flags this as a known point of confusion and links to a dedicated explanation, implying it's necessary despite the zero-knowledge design.
How is my data actually encrypted?Notesnook encrypts everything on-device using XChaCha20-Poly1305 for encryption and Argon2 for key derivation, following zero-knowledge principles.
Can I import my notes from other apps like Evernote?Yes, there is a dedicated tool called Importer mentioned in the README for migrating and importing data from other note apps.
Can I verify the encryption claims myself?Yes, there is a separate tool called Vericrypt specifically built to let users independently verify Notesnook's encryption claims.
What technologies power the different clients?The front-end across all platforms uses React, with React Native for mobile apps and Electron for the desktop client, written in a mix of JavaScript and TypeScript.
Is there a web clipper?Yes, the monorepo includes a web-clipper extension and its core clipping logic as separate packages.
What are similar projects?Trilium, PrivacyNotes.app, joplin, blinko, siyuan, devhub, ente, docs
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